Students emphasize importance of municipal elections

Monday

Nov 6, 2017 at 12:01 AMNov 6, 2017 at 8:58 AM

NORWICH — Chris Arpin and Shea Lee, active members of the Young Voters Society at Norwich Free Academy, began their campaign months ago.

Their platform is grassroots; an effort to impress upon their classmates as early as possible the importance of voting and getting involved in local politics. Hopefully, the teens believe, their efforts will reach across the community.

"Whether you think it’s important or not," said Arpin, a 17-year-old from Lisbon who can’t wait to turn 18 so he can vote, "voting is one of the most powerful rights we have."

Arpin, Lee and members of both Young Voters and an honors politics class, helped organize a mock presidential election nearly a year ago to rally student interest in what they called civic responsibility. It worked: About half of the NFA student body voted, earning it the designation of a Red, White and Blue school for its teaching of the subject.

The youth continued their crusade this year, volunteering their time during three local debates – for candidates vying for Norwich mayor, city council and board of education — and trying to spark interest in the 2017 municipal elections, which traditionally draw low voter turnout across the region and state.

"It’s awesome to see the young people, even freshmen, who are involved in civics and understand civic responsibility," John Mariano, the adviser of NFA Young Voters Society, said. "If we can get them involved and motivated early, it’ll stay with them."

Town officials in Norwich hope Tuesday’s mayoral ticket of Republican Peter Nystrom, Democrat Derell Wilson, Libertarian Bill Russell and petitioning candidates Jon Oldfield and Joseph Radecki, along with a slew of city council and board of education candidates will prompt the same turnout as the last mayoral election.

The percentage of votes cast in the 2013 municipal election was 40 percent, a strong turnout, officials said. The 27.8 percent turnout, or 4,284 ballots cast, for the municipal election in 2015 reflects the average turnout for a non-mayoral election in Norwich.

By comparison, 13,475 cast a vote for president a year ago.

"Local elections are so much more important," Lee, 17, a Norwich resident, said. "It doesn’t make sense. I’ve always been interested in how politics benefit me. I want to know where my tax dollars are going. For example, I didn’t know how high taxes were here. It’s crazy."

Arpin and Lee vow they will register to vote once they turn 18. In Norwich, the number of active registered voters as of Friday is 18,121, and there are about 5,000 inactive voters in the books, meaning those residents have not voted in the past four elections and have not responded to the annual canvass.

Dianne Daniels, the Democratic registrar of voters in Norwich, and Dianne Slopak, the Republican registrar of voters, said municipal turnout for elections in the city is a source of frustration.

"It’s your community," Lee, who concurred with the town officials, said. "You should be involved. The person we end up voting for can ultimately change your life, change your family’s life."

Voter turnout in Connecticut for the 2016 presidential election was 76.9 percent. The statewide voter turnout for 2015 municipal elections was 32.7 percent.

"We have to instill the importance of voting and being involved in the local process," Arpin said. "We’re trying to spread the word. Being a part of the local debates this year and reaching out to the candidates and involving our own families … we’re hoping we’re setting an example."

An upswing

For the first time since 2009, there is a challenged first selectman race in Plainfield, with three major party candidates and at least one high-profile write-in candidate vying for the town’s top municipal seat.

The race blew wide open earlier this year after First Selectmen Paul Sweet announced he would not seek another term in office, triggering what could be the highest voter turnout in nearly six years.

Republican Cathy Tendrich, Republican Vickie Meyer and Libertarian Dan Reale, along with former first selectman and write-in candidate Kevin Cunningham, will be on the Tuesday’s ballot.

Town election statistics show that voter turnout drops precipitously when there’s no competition for the town’s top seat, but tends to jump whenever more than one candidate is on the ballot.

Sweet, a Democrat, ran unopposed in 2015, 2013 and 2011 and in those years less than 17 percent of registered voters cast ballots. In 2015, only 916, or 10.7 percent, of Plainfield’s 8,536 registered voters cast ballots, with only 770 people voting in the unopposed first selectman race.

In 2005, 2007 and 2009, when at least two candidates vied for the town’s top elected post, voter turnout in some cases doubled, in one year reaching 40 percent, according to election returns.

Sonia Chapman, Republican registrar of voters in Plainfield, this year ordered enough ballots for 60 percent of town’s registered voters.

"That number will cover what we expect will be a larger number of voters, with enough extras in case there are mistakes made by voters who maybe haven’t come out and voted for a while," Chapman said. "In past unchallenged elections, we’d order about 10 or 20 percent fewer ballots, but we always want to have enough."

Issuing a challenge

Still, even when there is a contested race for the top spot — in Griswold, Democrat Todd Babbitt and Republican Ed Burke are vying for first selectman — turnout is traditionally poor.

Out of 6,423 registered Griswold voters in 2015, 920 voted, considerably lower than the 2,063 who voted in the 2013 election (also non-presidential.)

Griswold Town Clerk Valerie Pudvah said the Republican and Democratic town committees are "doing the lion's share" when it comes to encouraging voter turnout, making their pleas mostly on social media. She added that town officials "aren’t expecting a big turnout this year, at all."

Sprague voter Edgar Daigneault said the reason turnout is low during non-presidential years is indifference — 1,507 residents voted for president in 2016, roughly twice as many who voted in the 2015 town election for first selectman and the board of selectmen.

Daigneault said that with voting hours set from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. — the typical time polls are open — there's ample time for voters who work or have other obligations to take a few minutes to cast a ballot.

"There's no reason you can't make time to vote with those hours," he said.

In 2015, the editorial board at The Hartford Courant wrote: "Voter turnout for town and city elections is low and getting lower. Here’s an idea for improving turnout in Connecticut: Hold municipal elections in even-numbered years, during the congressional/presidential cycle, when interest is highest.

The editorial went on to state: "Perhaps that’s too impractical an idea. It would, among other things, require a realignment of terms, produce a monster ballot, dilute the message of the increased number of candidates and likely push some voters over the cliff."

NFA students, who come from various towns across the region, have a more uncomplicated idea: Realize how important local elections, like Tuesday’s really are.

Guercie Guerrie, an NFA senior from Norwich, became fully aware of the power of voting two years ago as a sophomore taking an honors course in global studies and civics.

Although she’s not old enough to vote — she’s 17 — she’s promised, as president of the Robertstine Duncan NAACP Youth Council, that she will vote in all future elections to fulfill her civic responsibility.

"I realized that I am privileged as an American citizen to be a part of the political process," said Guerrie, who volunteered at the Norwich mayoral, council and board of education candidates debates this fall. "Millions of people around the world, specifically women do not have a voice in their society. I developed my interest in politics by keeping up with current local, state and national politics. This summer, I went to Laurel Girls State at Post University. This program re-affirmed the significance of being involved in the political process."

Guerrie also issued her fellow residents a stern challenge:

"The decisions that are made today are affecting our tomorrow," she said. "We must be a part of the conversation and take a stand for what we want to see implemented. On the local level, we have more of a connection with our local leaders, therefore we must take advantage and be active."